Greta M. Grossman

Background

Greta Magnusson Grossman (21 July 1906 - August 1999) was a Swedish furniture designer, interior designer and architect, born in Helsingborg. Wikipedia says she came from a family of cabinetmakers and trained as a woodworking apprentice before studying furniture design at Konstfack in Stockholm from 1928.

Signature Style

Wikipedia characterises her furniture by a mixture of materials and slender proportions. GUBI says she was influenced by the Case Study Houses and often completed her buildings with custom textiles, ceramics, furniture and lighting.

Notable Works

She is best known for pieces such as the Modern Line Sofa, the 62 Series Desk, the Gräshoppa floor lamp and the Cobra lamp, which received a Good Design Award in 1950. GUBI says she designed the GMG Chaise Longue in 1951. Between 1949 and 1959 she designed fourteen houses in Los Angeles.

Legacy

She emigrated to the United States in 1940, taught furniture design at UCLA from 1957 to 1963 and retired from architecture in 1966. A 2010 exhibition in Stockholm and a 2012 exhibition in Pasadena, described as her first career retrospective, followed.